Cynthia Carroll at Anglo American (A)

Abstract

In 2007, Cynthia Carroll, the newly-appointed chief executive of mining giant Anglo American, was considering shutting down mines in South Africa for safety reasons, namely worker fatalities. No company had ever done so before. Carroll felt that operating a company whose goal was anything less than "zero harm" (meaning no fatalities or serious injuries) was unacceptable. As the first woman and non-South African to lead the century-old company, many were watching her closely. Should she go so far as to make the unprecedented move of shutting down the mines? What message would that send to the company and to the mining industry? The lives of others, Carroll's reputation, and the company's performance were all on the line.

Related Work

In 2007, Cynthia Carroll, the newly-appointed chief executive of mining giant Anglo American, ordered the temporary shutdown of Anglo American Platinum's Rustenburg, South Africa mines in response to a spate of deaths at the operations. The case lays out Carroll's requirements of what had to be done before the Rustenburg mines could restart operations, including the implementation of a new safety program for tens of thousands of workers that called on the help of executives from other Anglo American businesses. The shutdown disrupted operations and incurred substantial costs.

When Cynthia Carroll, chief executive of Anglo American, ordered the shutdown of the company's Rustenburg, South Africa mines in the summer of 2007, it was just the first of many steps the company would take under her leadership to achieve zero harm. The case describes Carroll's approach to stakeholder relationships (i.e., relationships with the government and unions), how the shutdown was used as a platform to change the culture at Anglo American as a whole, the challenges of sustaining such an endeavor, and Carroll's reflections on her career and leadership. In 2013, Carroll stepped down as chief executive, but her tenure at Anglo American had reverberated through the company, South Africa, and the mining industry.

This is a teaching note for the Cynthia Carroll at Anglo American case. It describes how to teach the case to demonstrate theories of leading change and Leader Filtration Theory. The case is a dramatic story of organizational transformation as Carroll attempts to transform the culture of Anglo American to cut its mining accident rate from its current average of more than 40 deaths a year.

In 2007, Cynthia Carroll, the newly-appointed chief executive of mining giant Anglo American, was considering shutting down mines in South Africa for safety reasons, namely worker fatalities. No company had ever done so before. Carroll felt that operating a company whose goal was anything less than "zero harm" (meaning no fatalities or serious injuries) was unacceptable. As the first woman and non-South African to lead the century-old company, many were watching her closely. Should she go so far as to make the unprecedented move of shutting down the mines? What message would that send to the company and to the mining industry? The lives of others, Carroll's reputation, and the company's performance were all on the line.

This is a video supplement for the Cynthia Carroll at Anglo American case series. The video features Cynthia Carroll reflecting on her implementation of organizational transformation at Anglo American in regards to the mining company's safety culture.

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